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title: "CHM vs Sedera: Cheapest Plan vs Broadest Sharing" description: "CHM ($115–$299/month, strict Christian) vs Sedera ($88–$413/month, fully secular). Both have unlimited caps. The real difference is cost, faith, and what's shared." author: "WhichHealthShare Editorial" published: "2026-02-08" updated: "2026-05-27"

Both carry no network restrictions and high sharing ceilings — Sedera has no per-incident cap, while CHM caps at $125,000 per incident (up to $1M per illness with the optional Brother's Keeper add-on) — so the comparison isn't really about the sharing ceiling, it's about cost, faith, and what gets shared day-to-day. CHM is one of the cheapest health sharing plans in the US at $115–$299/month but requires strict Christian faith including church attendance. Sedera is fully secular at $88–$413/month — its floor now undercuts CHM's — and adds prescription, mental health, and telehealth sharing that CHM doesn't include.

Quick Comparison

Prices may vary depending on membership elections. Please see Membership Guidelines for full sharing rules. The Sedera Membership may not be available in all states.

CHM: Cheap for Christians, But You Pay in Coverage Gaps

CHM starts at $115/month for individuals — among the lowest floors in health sharing, though no longer the outright cheapest: Sedera's secular membership now starts lower, at $88/month. Either way, CHM's price comes with notable gaps.

What CHM does NOT cover:

• Prescription drugs (you pay out of pocket)
• Mental health care
• Telehealth visits
• Tobacco users (excluded entirely — not just higher rates)

What CHM does cover:

• Medical bills, emergency, surgery, hospital stays
• Maternity
• Preventive care
• Any doctor, any hospital — no network

Annual cost reality check:

• CHM: $115–$299 × 12 = $1,380–$3,588/year
• Sedera: $88–$413 × 12 = $1,056–$4,956/year
• At the entry tier, Sedera actually runs about $324/year cheaper than CHM. At the top tier, CHM runs about $1,368/year cheaper than Sedera.

Which plan costs less depends on your age band and IUA selection — it's no longer a given that CHM wins. And if you take 3 prescriptions monthly at $60/each, that's $2,160/year coming out of pocket under CHM that Sedera would cover. Run both quotes before assuming price alone settles it.

CHM's faith requirements are strict. Church attendance required, not just a statement of faith. If you're not actively attending a Christian church, CHM membership isn't available to you — and they verify.

CHM's size is a genuine advantage. 300,000+ members is the second-largest pool in health sharing. More members means more stability and faster reimbursements.

Sedera: More Sharing, Secular Values, Smaller Pool

Sedera was built specifically for people who want health sharing without the faith component. It's the most comprehensive secular option in the market.

What Sedera shares that CHM doesn't:

• Prescription drugs included
• Mental health and therapy included
• Telehealth included
• Maternity, preventive, emergency, surgery — all shared

The secular advantage: No faith requirements, no lifestyle restrictions rooted in Christian theology. If secular community values matter to you, or if you simply don't qualify for CHM, Sedera is your comparable alternative.

The size trade-off: Sedera has 50,000+ members vs CHM's 300,000+. That's a meaningful gap. Smaller pools can create delay risk during years with an unusually high volume of shared medical needs. Sedera has operated well since 2014 with no publicized pool strain, but CHM's larger, more established pool carries less theoretical risk.

State availability: Sedera is not available in 9 states: AK, HI, IL, ME, MD, NH, PA, VT, WA. If you're in one of those states, Sedera isn't an option regardless.

Pre-Existing Conditions: CHM Is Shorter

CHM requires 12 months symptom/treatment-free (5 years for cancer) before a condition is no longer considered pre-existing and is shared like any other need; CHM Gold members can share maintained conditions even sooner, capped at $15,000 in year one and up to $50,000 by year three. Sedera imposes a 12–36 month phase-in — nothing shared in the first 12 months, graduated caps in months 13–36, fully shareable after 36 months. CHM reaches full sharing sooner than Sedera.

If you need pre-existing conditions covered sooner, Zion Health covers three conditions (hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes) from month 1.

Who Each Plan Is Actually For

CHM makes sense if:

• You're an active Christian meeting church attendance requirements
• Prescriptions, mental health, and telehealth aren't regular needs for you
• Cost is your primary constraint
• You're healthy and the coverage gaps won't hit you

Sedera makes sense if:

• You're secular or don't qualify for CHM
• You take prescriptions or value mental health sharing
• You're in one of the 41 states it serves
• You've run the numbers for your age band — Sedera is actually about $27/month cheaper than CHM at the entry tier, but can run up to about $114/month more at the top tier

Neither if:

• You're in a Sedera-excluded state and want secular health sharing (look at Zion or CrowdHealth)
• You need prescription coverage at CHM-level pricing (no plan offers this combination)
• You need to satisfy ACA insurance mandates (health sharing doesn't count as insurance)

The Real Trade-Off in One Line

CHM usually costs less than Sedera, but not always — Sedera's floor ($88) now undercuts CHM's ($115), and CHM's ceiling ($299) still beats Sedera's ($413). Either way, CHM leaves you paying out of pocket for prescriptions and mental health; Sedera shares more of your everyday healthcare needs, at a cost that depends on your age band.

Ready to enroll?

These go straight to the plan’s own enrollment page — no extra hops. CHM (Christian Healthcare Ministries) runs no referral program, so we earn nothing from it and link our review instead.

These are affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you enroll through them, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdicts or our rankings. How we make money →

CHM (Christian Healthcare Ministries)

4.4/5

from $115/mo · Strict Christians seeking lowest cost option, most affordable ministry

Read reviewNo referral program — we earn nothing from CHM (Christian Healthcare Ministries).

Sedera

4.5/5

$88–$413/mo · Secular users seeking alternative to faith-based ministries

EnrollRead review →

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